(Corrects date in third paragraph to June 10, not June 1) PARIS, May 25 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank has plenty of time to map out its exit from its pandemic asset purchase programme, and could be more flexible about its buying after that, ECB policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Tuesday. As the euro zone economy rebounds and vaccination campaigns gain momentum, some hawkish central bankers have suggested the ECB should start contemplating how it will wind down its exceptional asset purchases from the crisis phase of the pandemic. That has boosted market speculation that the pace of bond buys under the ECB’s Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) could be discussed as soon as its June 10 meeting. “We still have ample time to judge and decide, well beyond our June meeting,” Villeroy said in a speech at an online Danske Bank conference. He said suggestions that asset purchases could be reined in as soon as the third quarter were “purely speculative” and added that the amount the ECB buys will be freely determined until at least March, when the programme is due to expire. Villeroy, who is also governor of the French central bank, said that, even after that, the ECB would still have other policy tools at hand to keep financing conditions easy. “These unconventional instruments are here to stay, beyond COVID and its crisis tools, meaning that our monetary policy can remain as accommodative as necessary for as long as necessary,” Villeroy said. For instance, the ECB could introduce greater flexibility into its more routine, pre-pandemic asset purchase programme, which is subject to more restrictive rules than the PEPP on what can be bought, and how much. Beyond asset purchases, Villeroy suggested the ECB’s deposit rate facility could go lower if needed, saying its present rate was not a floor. Meanwhile, the ECB could maintain its ultra-cheap loans for banks, known as Target Long-Term Refinancing Operations, for longer, he said. (Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.